ZTE Inc. was granted permission by the Trump administration to resume some U.S. operations after the Chinese telecommunications firm overhauled its management team, according to a federal filing on Friday.
The Commerce Department’s national security division in April imposed a seven-year sales ban on the company for violating sanctions against North Korea and Iran. That ban was lifted after ZTE agreed to change its leadership and pay a $1.4 billion fine.
The firm fired its top board members earlier this month, and on Thursday it appointed a new executive team. Xu Ziyang, who led ZTE’s wireless network division, was named president. Three new vice presidents were also appointed.
Following that announcement, the Commerce Department authorized the firm to continue to operate existing networks and equipment in the U.S. until Aug. 1, according to a ZTE filing. The authorization will temporarily address concerns from U.S. businesses that use ZTE equipment on whether the firm can provide maintenance work on its products.
A congressional effort to overturn the deal between the Trump administration and ZTE is ongoing. A provision to reimpose the sales ban was included in a recently passed Senate defense policy bill. A House-passed version did not include that language, but did include a measure to ban the military from purchasing products from ZTE or fellow Chinese firm Huawei Technologies Co.
The Pentagon earlier this year banned the sale of Huawei and ZTE products on U.S. military bases. Huawei on Tuesday criticized a pending rule from the Federal Communications Commission that would effectively ban rural carriers from using products from either firm.
